Hurts So Good
by BLav527
Summary: Modern AU. In which Brienne burns her neck with a curling iron, Jaime is relentlessly jealous for some reason, Sansa is a trouble/match-maker, and Tyrion can only shake his head.


AN's: This comes to you from tumblr thanks to this prompt: _Brienne tries to use a curling iron like Sansa showed her, but burned her neck. Friend Jaime thinks it's a hickey and is relentlessly jealous, culminating in him yelling, "I want to give you hickeys!"_ I made Sansa happy/silly in this because of reasons. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: GRRM owns them

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"FUCK!"

The high-pitched expletive and the following crash brought Sansa to the door of her bathroom in seconds.

"Brienne?" She knocked frantically. "Brienne are you okay?!"

More cursing and crashing was her answer and Sansa slowly pushed the door open to reveal her friend, red faced and teary eyed and clutching her neck. Bottles of hairspray and gel that had been on the counter were now on the floor. Her curling iron was hanging from the cord, still plugged into the outlet.

"What happened?" Sansa asked, her eyes wide.

Brienne seethed at her friend. "I burnt myself that's what! I told you I shouldn't do anything different; nothing ever works for me- OW that hurts!" She jumped as Sansa removed her hand to reveal the small round burn on the side of her neck.

Sansa cringed at the sight and immediately snatched the first aid kit from under the sink.

"It's not too bad- I've seen Margaery's sister with a way worse one. Here, some cream will help."

Brienne closed her eyes, clenching her teeth through the pain as Sansa dabbed the burn ointment on.

"There! All better!" Sansa said sticking the cap back on the tube.

Brienne leaned in to the mirror to get a better look. The mark was faint, but it wasn't bubbling, which she hoped was a good sign.

"Do you have any cover up?" Brienne asked. "It looks like a-"

Sansa gripped Brienne's shoulders before she could finish and turned her so they were facing each other. "No, no…it will get all over your blouse!" Brienne thought she caught a new glint in her friend's eye. "Here, we'll just adjust the collar…and see the curls still turned out nice!" Sansa brushed Brienne's hair back over her shoulders. "There! No one will notice. Besides it'll be dark in the movies. Come on the boys will be here soon!"

And with that she traipsed out of the bathroom, pulling the curling iron out of the plug on her way.

Brienne heaved a sigh and looked back at the mirror. Well, burn mark or not, this was as good as it gets she supposed.

The bell rang just as they were making their way down the steps. Sansa rushed forward to open the door, revealing Tyrion and Jaime waiting on the stoop.

Tyrion's face lit up at the sight of Sansa, reaching out to take her hand and kissing it softly before he turned to Brienne. "Glad you could make it, Brienne…"

"WHAT IS THAT ON YOUR NECK?"

The other three turned to look at Jaime, who was looking at Brienne's neck with wide eyes.

Brienne blushed; crossing her arms as she pushed past him towards the car. "Burnedmyselfonacurlingiron," She mumbled in one breath.

"A curling iron, huh? Well it looks like a-" Jaime huffed a breath when Tyrion elbowed him in the gut.

Sansa pulled Tyrion towards Jaime's SUV. "Come on, we'll miss the movie!"

Brienne spent the drive hunched in the back seat, trying not to scratch the burn and avoiding Jaime's eyes as he scowled at her through the rearview mirror.

The theater was relatively empty for a Saturday night. Tyrion had already purchased their tickets, so they lingered out in the lobby for a bit.

Brienne and Tyrion had been discussing their science project when Sansa suddenly asked – "How was Hyle last night?" – loudly enough for Jaime to hear when he returned from the restroom.

Brienne blinked at her friend and shrugged. Hyle Hunt was her lab partner and on a regular basis was 90 percent jerk and 10 percent useless. They had met the night before in the library and, much to Brienne's surprise, had actually completed a fair amount of research.

"It was fine," Brienne smiled. "He actually did more than I thought he would."

Sansa eyes glittered as they had been all night.

"Oh, I'm sure he did!" She smiled broadly at Brienne and gave Jaime a pointed look before declaring she was starving and dragging Tyrion over to the refreshment stand.

"You were with Hyle Hunt last night?"

Jaime's voice was low- almost a growl and Brienne turned to him. He looked at her, his green eyes narrowed and his jaw tense.

She shrugged again. "Yeah, we worked on the science project…" she trailed off and absently scratched at the burn. "Have you started it yet?"

Jaime didn't respond as his eyes followed the movement. His fists clenched.

Suddenly uncomfortable and unsure why, Brienne mumbled something about going to find seats and hurried away.

She found four seats together towards the back. Sitting in the dark, she wondered at her friends' behavior. Sansa was definitely up to something and Jaime…was acting more intolerable than ever. Still, the way he kept looking at her caused a flush to creep up her cheeks. Brienne was thankful for the darkened theater when the other three finally came in just as the previews started.

Jaime flopped into the seat next to her without a word, crossing his arms and staring at the screen. Sansa reached around him to offer her popcorn, which she declined. Brienne gave Jaime a curious look before settling in.

Except every five seconds she could feel Jaime shift to look at her and Brienne couldn't take it anymore.

She turned to him with a soft huff.

"What is your problem?" She whispered, not wanting to disturb the other patrons, few as they were.

Jaime's eyes met hers in the dark and he gave a short scoff.

"My problem? _My_ problem? You're getting _hickeys_ from Hyle Hunt and _I'm_ the one with the problem?"

There was a small cough from beside them – Sansa – but Brienne was too shocked to look over.

"What are you talking about?"

Jaime rolled his eyes and pointed to her neck.

"I'm talking about how you spent last night letting that tool maul you! Really Brienne, I thought you had better taste."

The opening credits started, but Brienne's ears were ringing. She blinked at Jaime in the dark, suddenly no longer uncomfortable.

She was furious.

Her next words came out through gritted teeth, slow and deliberate.

"Number one, Hyle and I are lab partners. You _know_ that. We worked on the project together. _Nothing else._ Number two, this is a _burn_ from a curling iron I gave myself not ten minutes before we left…" she grabbed Jaime's hand and held it on the burn so he could feel it before going on. "Number three, even it was a…a…" she swallowed. "A hickey- why would you even care?!"

"Because I should be the one giving you hickeys!"

They had been whispering but Jaime's response was loud enough for the whole theater to hear. There were a few titters from the front as all eyes turned to them. Sansa's coughing turned into a fit as she stood and ran down the steps quickly, the coughs soon turning to what could only be laughter as she rounded the corner.

Tyrion, who had been sitting with his hand over his face, sighed and got up without a word, following his girlfriend.

But Brienne didn't see or hear anything. All she could do was look at Jaime, whose breathing was heavy. It was then that she realized his hand was still on her neck. Which meant he could probably feel her heart pounding.

"Wha…" she started and swallowed again. "What?"

Jaime closed his eyes with a sigh. When he opened them again, his look was soft.

"I want to be the one…" he trailed off, his fingers flexing against her neck, his thumb gently brushing the burn.

Brienne searched his eyes, looking for the lie. All she saw was sincerity.

"Oh…" She let the word out in a breath, a smile forming. She brought one hand up to cover the one he had on her neck and the other to grip his shirt, pulling him toward her.

"Number one, you could have just said so." Their faces were close now. "Number two, you're an idiot."

Brienne kissed him softly, hesitantly. Jaime took her face in his hands, kissing back eagerly before pulling away. "Number three," He said, looking into her eyes. "I _am_ an idiot," he agreed with a smile and smothered Brienne's laughter with another kiss.

They don't know how long they stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, before a snort from above them broke them out of the haze of lips and hands.

Standing above them were Sansa and Tyrion. Sansa only laughed and clapped her hands as she retreated back down the stairs, cackling something about being a _genius matchmaker_ as Tyrion followed her again, shaking his head as he dodged popcorn thrown by annoyed moviegoers.

Jaime and Brienne looked at each other, amused and delighted. Jaime shifted so he could face her properly, his fingers returning to her neck to touch the burn.

"Does it hurt?"

Brienne leaned into him. "A little…" She bit her lip just before Jaime kissed her again, brushing her lips and cheeks before ghosting his lips over the burn.

"How about now?" He murmured against her skin. "Good?"

Brienne sighed and smiled. She felt no pain.

"So good."


End file.
